Back With A Vengeance
by Ama no Murakumo
Summary: After the Angel Wars, Shinji takes off for Nagoya-2 and becomes a cop. What happens when a letter from Rei brings him back with his partner? Utter destruction! Shinji x Rei and rated for violence, language, and sexual situations in later chapters.
1. A Letter From An Old Friend

Disclaimer: I don't own any of the characters of Evangelion. I only own anything that comes out of my deranged mind.

Author's Notes

1) Hey folks. It's me, Ama no Murakumo! I decided to start another story. Yes I know, you guys probably think I'm nuts…but I don't care!

2) I got the idea for this story after reading the Detective Ikari series. I figured I'd try my hand at a grown-up Shinji story.

3) This note is for those readers that are used to my Gendo-bashing obsession: Don't worry! I plan on beating the crap out of him in here too.

Let's get this show on the road, people! On with the story!

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**Back With a Vengeance**

_By Ama no Murakumo_

**Chapter 1**: **A Letter From An Old Friend**

"Are you sure about this, Shinji?"

"Relax Hisoka. When have I ever gotten us in-?"

"You finish that sentence and I swear I'll shoot you."

Running his hands through his unruly hair, the second man looked to his companion with an exasperated expression. Shaking his head, the man's eyes locked back in front of him as the pair made their way through the abandoned factory they were searching.

To anyone who didn't know the two men, one would probably think they didn't get along too well. That was a load of bull. Shinji Ikari and Hisoka Antares, easily the best investigative officers in the Nagoya-2 Police Department, were closer than brothers. Of course, that just meant they tended to argue a lot since they knew how to push each others' buttons.

Shinji was the younger of the two, but he was easily the stronger. After the Angel Wars had ended, the young man had left Tokyo-3 for the port city of Nagoya-2 with no intention of going back if he could help it. His training as an Eva pilot had given him a rather lean body, and he worked hard to keep it that way. His 5'8'' frame was packed with muscle and his brown eyes had a hardened look to them, evidence of his time in Tokyo-3. Still, he had managed to make himself happy in the 10 years he had been here.

Hisoka was much taller but nowhere near as physically powerful as his younger partner. No, Hisoka preferred to fight with his mind, which he used to great advantage. His raven-black hair was completely unkempt, though it wasn't for a lack of trying. It just stayed that way. His eyes, however, were a bright but calculating electric blue, a memento from his Russian father. He had been raised in Osaka by his Japanese mother after his old man had left the two without any word, and still kept traces of his old hometown's accent. He had met Shinji in the police academy, and the two instantly hit it off. Soon they were inseparable. After the academy, they had fought tooth and nail to be assigned as partners, eventually forcing the chief to give in after their probationary periods had expired.

Right now the two were investigating a lead that the Black Angels, a powerful gang in the city, were running drugs out of this factory and by god; they would scour every square inch of this place if they had to!

The two soon came across a door held shut by an electric lock. Shinji looked to his partner and grinned. "I believe this is where you come in, bro," he said, moving to the side and holding a flashlight over the lock.

"Indeed. Your idea of a solution would be to blow the damn lock off," Hisoka replied, bending down and opening the locking mechanism before typing a sequence of buttons at incredible speed. A loud _BEEP _signaled that the man had successfully hacked his way through the lock. Smirking, he opened the door, keeping his hand on his service pistol.

He would later wish he had brought some of Shinji's more…_destructive_ toys.

Blinking, the two found themselves staring down no less than a hundred thugs, all armed to the teeth with assault rifles. The only thing that kept them alive was the fact that the goons were too stunned to realize they had been found out by the cops. Shinji stared at Hisoka with an annoyed look.

"This is why I wanted to bring the Gatling gun, but _noooo_, you told me we wouldn't need it," he exclaimed. Then all hell broke loose.

Hisoka slammed the door shut, re-locked it, and the pair ran like bastards as they heard the gangsters pounding and firing at the walls trying to get out. Once they were behind some crates, the younger man glared at his raven-haired companion.

"Now what we do, genius? There's no way I can beat those guys on my own! There's a fucking army of them!" Shinji yelled, wishing that his partner was more gung-ho.

"Shinji I'm a statistician, not a damn street brawler!" Hisoka countered. His job officially was to assess the risks associated with the department's assignments, but there was a problem having Shinji as a partner: The young man _always_ found some ways to make the worst-case scenarios of a situation happen, and he did it without even trying!

Sometimes Hisoka wondered if the guy was disaster-prone…after hearing about Shinji's adventures during the Angel Wars it sounded like a logical explanation. Suddenly, he got an idea!

"Hey Shinji…"

"Yeah?"

"You still have a couple of those grenades that you swiped from that Yakuza boss, right?" he asked, praying to whatever god was out there that his partner had the requested items.

"Sure I do, but what are we gonna do with eight grenades?" Shinji wondered.

"Simple," Hisoka replied, sneaking his way up the crates and wrenching a section of vent off the ceiling before continuing, "Let's toss those babies down the ventilation shaft to right over their heads. It'll collapse the roof on top of them."

Shinji looked like a kid at Christmas. "Hisoka you're a fucking genius! Wait a minute though…didn't the chief say not to bring these guys back as corpses?"

The other man shrugged. "What he doesn't know won't hurt him. Besides, it's not like we have much of a choice against a number that large." Shinji couldn't argue with that.

"In that case…BONZAI!!" he screamed, scrambling up the crate pile and pulling the grenades from his bag before tossing them as hard as he could down the shaft. When he reached the last one, he yanked out the pin and the pair grinned as they watched it roll towards its friends.

High-fiving each other, the two barreled their way down the crates and out of the factory. They silently thanked their maker that the grenades wouldn't go off for thirty seconds. As they charged out the front door, they escaped into their police cruiser before gunning it outta there. As soon as the vehicle started moving…

BOOM!

The two plainclothes detectives could only stare at the bonfire they just created. The entire factory had gone up in flames, a good third of it blown out by the force of the explosion. Hisoka looked at Shinji.

"What the hell _were_ those things? Tactical nukes posing as grenades?"

"No clue. Maybe they had an armory in there or something…" Suddenly the two felt a twinge of fear.

"Chief Kazekawa isn't gonna be very happy with us," Shinji said.

"Oh hell…" Their heads slumped over; the partners silently drove back to the precinct office, hoping to catch their boss on a good day.

**(Nagoya-2 Police Station: Chief Daisuke Kazekawa's office)**

"WHAT THE FUCK WERE YOU TWO THINKING?!" Shinji and Hisoka flinched. The chief was definitely _not_ happy with them for their little escapade earlier. Hisoka stepped forward.

"We're sorry chief, but there was a small army of the guys waiting for us and we had no other choice. Besides, it was my idea to begin with." Kazekawa turned on the older detective.

"_Yours_!? Detective Antares, I would have expected better judgment from you! What the hell did you get that degree from Nagoya-2 University for? To wipe your ass with?"

Shinji stood up and put his hand on his friend's shoulder. "Chief I understand that you're upset, but we really didn't have any other options. Those goons were about to break the door down and blow us to bits, and Hisoka's idea was the best we had with the equipment we were armed with at the time."

The chief simply sat down and took some deep breaths, gulping some water as he pinched the bridge of his nose. Staring back up the two, he leveled a fierce glare at them and replied, "Be that as it may, Detective Ikari, you guys have been the cause of more than 85 percent of the damage done to this city since you partnered up."

"But we get the job done, sir." Wrong thing to say…

"I know! But that doesn't give you two an excuse to trash half of my city!" Hisoka was feeling bold at this point.

"Come on, boss. We know you love us like the sons you never had." Kazekawa glared at him.

"Antares…when you and Ikari pull shit like this, I love the two of you like a duel case of syphilis and herpes."

"Ouch. You really know how to hurt a guy's feelings, sir." The chief rubbed his temple.

"Just shut up, you two. As punishment, I'm putting you both on indefinite probation and ordering the two of you to get the hell out of Nagoya for a while. At least three weeks."

The pair cringed. _'Damn…we really fucked up this time.'_

Before their boss could rip them a new one even further, the chief's secretary came in with an envelope.

"Hey boss sorry to interrupt, but Shinji's got a letter. The post said he was informed that it was important. It's from Tokyo-3…"

Blinking, Shinji took the envelope and, with apprehension, slowly opened it. Taking out the piece of paper inside, Shinji's eyes widened. He recognized the neat and organized handwriting immediately: Rei Ayanami was contacting him after all these years. Despite his promise to never return to Tokyo-3, he knew that Rei was the only person who could get him back there. His feelings for the girl made sure of that…

_Dear Shinji,_

_I am not sure if you will bother to read this, as I was told you never responded to any of Major Katsuragi or Pilot Sohryu's letters. If you are reading this, then please listen: Commander Ikari has finally gone insane. He turned NERV into his own personal army and took over all of Tokyo-3. Section-2 has become an execution squad, killing off anybody who opposes the Commander. _

_A couple high ranking members of NERV were killed in Gendo's initial attack, including Lt. Aoba and Sub-Commander Fuyutsuki. Major Katsuragi and I have gathered others who disagree with the new regime to try and overthrow him, but we don't have the manpower or resources to last must longer. Dr. Akagi and Lt. Ibuki have joined us as well and with their help, we took and hid Unit-01 in the mountains surrounding the city. Asuka escaped the carnage with Unit-02 and went into hiding. We don't know of her location at the moment._

_I am requesting your help, Shinji. With you, we can activate Unit-01 and hopefully begin a counterattack. Also, I have to confess: I have regained the memories of my second incarnation and can remember everything that you did for me during the Angel Wars. I found that I enjoyed your company immensely and think that I may have feelings for you._

_Please come, if for no other reason than to let me see you one last time. It would give me closure before the Commander finds us and finishes us off._

_With love,_

_Rei Ayanami_

Shinji was furious! His father took over Tokyo-3 and was killing anybody in his way? Good grief, he knew the old fart was a loon but this was over the top! And Fuyutsuki had been killed as well? Hearing this, Shinji felt dejected. The old man had been somewhat of a grandfather to the former Third Child and had even told Shinji a couple stories about his mother. Crumpling the letter in his hand, the young man lifted his head and vowed to return and fight the demons that had been haunting him ever since his exodus from the fortress city.

Hisoka noticed the look in his partner's eyes and asked what the letter had said. Shinji looked to his friend and told him about the situation in Tokyo-3. The older man's eyes bulged. He figured things were a bit chaotic over there, but not this! Steeling himself, Hisoka gripped Shinji's hand.

"I can already tell you're going, man. And if you think you're going alone, then you've got rocks in your head! I'm going with you," the black-haired detective said as Shinji's eyes widened once again.

"Are you crazy? Do you have any idea how psychotic my father is?!"

"Personally, I don't give a shit. You're like a brother to me, which makes this my fight as well. Besides, somebody's gotta try and keep you out of trouble." Shinji grinned at this.

"The key word there is _try_, Hisoka…but thanks for the help. I'll feel better knowing that you're watching my back," the man replied. Turning back to the chief, the two brothers-in-arms told him of their plans to go to Tokyo-3. Kazekawa just waved them off.

"Whatever. Just don't come back until I've called for you or else I'm gonna blow your god damned dicks off." The pair flinched. They knew for a fact that the chief would carry out that threat.

Looking back to each other, they grinned and took off out of the office, heading straight for the department armory.

"GUN RAID!!"

"HERE WE COME, TOKYO-3!" The secretary looked at the chief with a worried look.

"Sir, are you sure about letting them run off like that? Do you think they have enough tact to stay out of trouble?" Chief Kazekawa laughed and looked at the woman.

"A barrage of N2 mines has more tact than those two. They'd probably leave more of the city intact after it was over, too."

Tokyo-3 isn't gonna know what hit it…

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Well that does it for Chapter 1. Hope you enjoyed it. Hisoka Antares is my own OC and thus I own his ass. I figured to give somebody to act somewhat as a foil to a trigger-happy Shinji.

Next time on Back With A Vengeance, Chapter 2: The Return of Shinji Ikari. Shinji and Hisoka arrive in Tokyo-3 and hunt down the Resistance. What happens when Gendo discovers the group and tries to finish the job he started? Keep reading and find out for yourself.

Send those reviews my way, guys! I wanna see what you guys think about this. Hopefully you all like it cause I have a good feeling about this story. Catch you all later!


	2. The Return of Shinji Ikari

Disclaimer: I don't own Evangelion, only Hisoka and the other OCs. If I keep finding lawyers at my door, then it won't take long for me to run out of places to hide the bodies…

Author's Notes

1) Hey folks, it's me again. I'm having a lot of fun writing all these stories and I hope to keep writing for quite some time.

2) Just a warning: Next Monday, I'll be moving from Texas to Utah so it may be a while before my next major update storm. I'll just try and update when I can so you guys all have something to read while I get the move finished.

3) For those who haven't figured it out yet, this story takes place 10 years after the end of the anime, so Shinji and the other Children are all 24. Also, Hisoka is 26 and I'll be putting up the ages of other major characters as is necessary or unless you just wanna know.

Now that all that's been taken care of…on with the story!

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**Back With a Vengeance**

_By Ama no Murakumo_

**Chapter 2: The Return of Shinji Ikari**

Misato Katsuragi was not what you would call a patient person right now. Ever since Gendo Ikari obliterated the Japanese capital of Tokyo-2 using a Dummy Plug-controlled Unit-00, she and the other members of the Resistance had been on edge. The man had finally lost his damned mind. The JSSDF had been unable to stop him either, as the army had no chance against an Eva without a pilot whose conscious could've saved hundreds or even thousands of lives.

She and Rei had been two of the first to begin evacuating those who opposed Gendo during his first assault in Tokyo-3. Maya and Ritsuko had begun helping shortly afterwards. Even though Shigeru and Kozo had both died and caused a drop in morale, the purple-haired beauty swore to do everything she could to stop this maniac. Turning to her red eyed partner, Misato grumbled.

"Rei, where is he? I thought Shinji told us he'd meet us here at 8:00. It's fucking 8:45 right now!" she yelled. Rei Ayanami, leader of the Resistance and former pilot of Unit-00, stared at the major blankly.

Rei had changed quite a bit since the Angel Wars. Her azure locks, once fashioned in a bob cut, now fell to just past her shoulders. Her eyes had also gotten brighter, a result of her new understanding of emotions. She still had a ways to go, but Misato and the others where being patient.

"Misato if I remember correctly, Shinji's response told us that he would be one block to the north of our present location." The older woman, who surprisingly hadn't changed much in ten years, shook her head.

"I still think that it was supposed to be here…"

**(One block north of Rei and Misato)**

"This is bullshit!"

"Don't blow a gasket, Shinji. I'm sure there's a perfectly good explanation for this," Hisoka replied. He and Shinji were supposed to be picked up by the younger man's old friends almost an hour ago, but thus far they had seen nobody out of the ordinary.

Glancing about, Hisoka sighed and picked up his bag. Shrugging their shoulders, the pair started looking around for a place to eat. If they were going to be forced to wait, then they may as well stuff their faces while they sat around.

Shinji growled. "I bet Misato's right under our damn noses. That woman has the worst sense of direction I ever saw," he said, leading his partner to a nearby cafe.

Neither of the two noticed the small group of black suits watching them from down the block. They were Section-2 agents. One whispered to another while the third spoke into a cell phone.

"So that's the Third Child?" The first one asked. The second nodded.

"Definitely. I remember that kid from the Angel Wars and that's him, without a doubt." The two nodded as the third closed his phone.

"We've been given orders from Sub-Commander Volsky. The Third Child and his companion are to be killed on sight. Let's go…" he said, pulling his pistol. The other two followed suit and the three made their way towards the pair. The strange man Ikari had appointed Sub-Commander after his coup apparently used to work as an assassin in the Russian government, and his ruthless manner showed as such.

"Hey Shinji, we've got Rent-A-Goons at six o'clock." The young man turned his eyes slightly and grinned, unzipping his bag in preparation. Hisoka simply stared at him.

"What are you gonna do?" The elder detective's eyes widened as he realized the three men walking towards them were all armed and aiming for them.

"Shit!" Hisoka yelled, pulling a massive revolver from his coat pocket before taking aim and firing. The agent in front was blasted back several meters, a large gaping hole where his heart should have been. Shinji looked at his partner in shock.

"What the fuck is that thing!" Hisoka smirked.

"A heavily customized Mateba Unica auto revolver, that's what. I had the gunsmith extend the barrel some and make adjustments so that it could fire its .454 Casull rounds with more accuracy," he replied. Shinji's eyes bulged.

"You're firing .454 Casulls from that monster! Dude, you've been hanging around me for too long…" the younger man exclaimed as he pulled out a weapon that nearly made Hisoka piss himself.

"Do I even wanna know what the hell you're carrying a 40mm pump-action grenade launcher for?" he asked. Shinji grinned and pointed.

"Probably not," he retaliated. Pressing the trigger, the pair watched as the agents tried running for it, only to be blown to bits.

Hisoka took one look at the two meter deep hole his friend had made and said, "Shinji Ikari, you give a whole new meaning to the word overkill."

The two partners then balked at seeing a small army of Section-2 agents coming around the corner. Hazarding a glance to each other, they took aim and pressed the triggers of their weapons once more.

So began Shinji's return to Tokyo-3…

**(Back with Rei and Misato)**

"What the hell is going on!?" Misato screamed as she and Rei rushed in the direction of the explosions taking place in the next block. As they approached the firefight, they heard a loud roar.

"THAT'S RIGHT! RUN YOU LITTLE BITCHES!"

The two were shell-shocked to find Section-2 running for their lives from a single pair of gunfighters. The taller one was firing with a big revolver in his left hand and a regular pistol in his right. The shorter man was chasing after the agents of death swinging an immense grenade launcher around as he wildly fired at any moving object that wore black. Something about that short one seemed familiar though…

"Major Katsuragi, I believe we have found Shinji," the younger woman said. Misato just stared as she watched her former ward dispensing gratuitous amounts of death and destruction, all the while laughing like a maniac. Pulling their own weapons, the lovely ladies began fighting as well.

"Hey Shinji! I think we got the attention of your friends," Hisoka exclaimed. Shinji turned and noticed the purple and blue hair that accompanied two of his first friends in Tokyo-3.

"Hi Rei! Hi Misato! You guys finally come to join the party?!" the young detective called out, only to have himself and his partner dragged behind a dumpster as Section-2 decided to start firing back again. The older woman glared at him.

"Shinji what the hell has gotten into you? I never would have figured you to act like this! Do you have any idea of the hell you've gotten us into?!" she screamed. Her yelling though was cut short as a familiar blue Renault pulled up and three more women barreled out of it.

The first was Ritsuko Akagi, former head of Project E. Ten years hadn't done much for her appearance, though the roots of her hair were showing signs of graying. Other than that, she looked exactly as Shinji remembered her. The scientist caught a pistol tossed to her by Hisoka and began firing on the agents.

The second was Maya Ibuki, Ritsuko's old assistant and one of the bridge technicians during the Angel Wars. In the time since Shinji left, her hair had grown out a little, now reaching to just below her neckline. She had also gotten a bit taller as well. Pulling a pistol from underneath her skirt, she fired a shot right between the eyes of an unsuspecting agent.

The third Shinji didn't know. Short red hair and bright green eyes were her most distinguishing characteristics. Her figure was full and she seemed to be about the same age as himself. The new addition grabbed a gun from Hisoka and shot at the incoming agents as well.

"Well well, if it ain't Ritsy and Maya. You ladies come to have some fun as well?" Shinji said as he launched another explosive. Section-2 was tossed around as another crater was formed in the street.

Turning to the unknown woman, he continued, "I don't know who you are however. Care to introduce yourself?" he asked, a bullet flying over his head as Hisoka pulled him down. It was Rei who answered him.

"This is Mana Kirishima. She used to work for a rival organization to NERV but joined us after Gendo's attack destroyed their headquarters. Now she's with us as an intelligence officer," she replied, punching a round right into an agent's groin. Hisoka found himself staring at the young redheaded woman.

'_She's pretty cute…'_ he thought before shaking his head. Pulling himself up, he quickly took aim with the Mateba and fired again. The agent he hit suddenly found himself with only half a head, as the top had been blown clean off by the bullet.

Sighing in frustration, the older detective looted his way through Shinji's bag as his partner was telling his old co-workers about Hisoka himself.

"Yeah this is my best friend and partner Hisoka Antares. He's a little paranoid at times, but he's a great guy. I just wish he'd let me use some of my better guns," Shinji said as he turned around. His eyes went wide at seeing what Hisoka had in his hands.

"And you call _me_ crazy! I was saving that for my old man," he exclaimed as the group stood back upon seeing the older man.

It might help to know that he was currently hefting Shinji's gatling gun onto the dumpster.

Smirking, Hisoka countered, "You got plenty of ammo, partner. Besides, desperate times call for desperate measures." Mana stared at him.

"Whether we're actually THAT desperate is debatable…" The man shrugged.

"Better to be safe than sorry. She's all yours Shinji."

The younger man smiled giddily and grabbed the trigger, pressing it down tight as the Section-2 morons kept coming at them.

Oh well. No one ever accused Gendo Ikari of hiring the smartest of people…

The immediate area surrounding the Resistance fighters was turned into a war zone as Shinji's weapon reduced the swarm of people into bloody red piles of pulp. Within just one minute, the younger Ikari had practically vaporized anybody that was foolish enough to get in the way of his gun. Of course, that meant every Section-2 agent that had been involved in the fight had been killed.

Rolling his shoulders, Shinji smiled at the surrounding women and said, "Well that was fun. Where to now?" Misato could only gape like a fish as Rei led the group into the Renault. Ritsuko was driving, with Misato in the passenger seat next to her. Maya, Shinji, and Hisoka were all in the back, with Rei in Shinji's lap and Mana in Hisoka's.

After making sure everyone's limbs were attached and in the car, Ritsuko sped off for Resistance HQ.

**(NERV HQ: Commander Ikari's office)**

"So the Third Child has returned?"

"Yes, but he won't be a problem. I've already asked Section-2 to take care of him." Gendo stared at the blonde Russian behind him.

"If you say so Ivan," he said, "and what about this pesky Resistance? Have we managed to locate them yet?"

Here, the young Sub-Commander grinned maliciously. "Yes we have. They're hiding out beneath Mt. Asama at the moment. Shall we _dispose_ of them, sir?"

"Yes we shall. I won't let those fools get in my way."

**(Resistance HQ)**

Shinji and Hisoka both whistled as they stepped into the headquarters of the Resistance. It was big. Situated underneath Mt. Asama, where Shinji had told his friend he had completed a mission with his Eva once before, the base was easily large enough to hold the more than 5,000 members of the Resistance.

With Rei at its head, the rebel group had managed to elude capture so far, but everyone was edgy. They knew that Gendo would eventually find them and try to eradicate them.

Currently, the two were being led to Rei's office in the rear. Entering the room, the pair sat down as the others situated themselves as well. Setting her chin on her interwoven hands, Rei stared at the two new recruits.

"Well I'm sure that you both know why we have called you here. My letter had enough information?" Shinji nodded.

"So where are you hiding Unit-01? In this base?" he asked.

Misato nodded. "That's right Shinji. Now that you're back, hopefully we can get Unit-01 back online. Your dad's using a Dummy Plug to control Unit-00 and Asuka took off after the fighting started. We haven't seen her in months." Shinji shrugged.

"That's fine with me. If I ever saw that girl, I'm afraid I may just try to blow her scalp off."

Ritsuko's eyes widened. "Surely you don't mean that?" Hisoka nodded.

"He'll do it, trust me. I've seen him shoot a guy up the nose for breathing on him funny. And with what he told me about that Asuka girl, I might consider helping him."

Before Misato could yell at the two for the way they were acting, a young soldier came running in, his face covered in sweat.

"Commander Ayanami! I don't mean to interrupt, but NERV forces are heading this way. They've found us!"

The news that they had been busted got everyone moving. Rei stood up.

"We can't afford to panic. Dr. Akagi, you and Lt. Ibuki go and get the soldiers ready for combat and retreat. Major Katsuragi, you and I will take Shinji to Unit-01 and get him prepared. Ms. Kirishima, you will guard us." After she said this, she simply stared at Hisoka.

"I'm not sure what you are capable of, Mr. Antares. Do you know of anything he can do, Shinji?" The man smirked.

"Let him guard us as well. There isn't another person I'd trust to watch my back in this kind of hell. Besides, whenever he gets mad, he can get pretty damn mean."

Ritsuko and Maya ran out of the office to carry out their orders while the rest made their way deeper into the mountain.

Before long, the sounds of gunfire could be heard as Rei opened another bulkhead. Stepping inside the large room, Hisoka's eyes bulged on seeing Unit-01 for the first time.

It was exactly like Shinji remembered it. Its horn pointing at an angle reminiscent of a unicorn, the purple mecha didn't even seem to have gathered dust.

Shinji shivered a bit. "I'm having a bad case of déjà vu here Misato." The purple haired woman nodded.

"Me too Shinji."

Suddenly, the group was shaken as an explosion rocked the room. Rei turned to the returned pilot.

"Shinji get into Unit-01 quickly. After this is done, I would like to talk to you about our _relationship_…" Smiling, the brown haired man nodded and gave Rei a quick kiss on the cheek before scrambling up the rocks to the entry plug. A blushing Ayanami touched her face where Shinji's lips had been and smiled to herself.

'_He has certainly changed. The Shinji I remember would've fainted before doing that.'_

"Rei, get down!" Misato exclaimed as the bulkhead was shattered, revealing Commander Gendo Ikari himself and Sub-Commander Ivan Volsky. Both were training guns on the two women.

Gendo smirked. "Well Rei, it seems as if your little rebellion is about to be quashed. My forces already have your men running for the hills."

Rei smiled. "Perhaps, but we weren't planning on fighting you. My forces are making their escape to another location. Also, you seem to have forgotten something…" Gendo cocked an eyebrow.

"What?"

"Shinji and his friend Hisoka." As soon as the words left her mouth, Unit-01 came to life with a guttural roar. Gendo and Ivan both stood back in horror.

Shinji had survived Section-2's attack and now Unit-01 was back in action.

"Yui…" Gendo said. His thoughts were cut short as a bullet ripped into his shoulder. Crying out in pain, the two NERV commanders turned to find Hisoka and Mana firing at them in tandem. Mana was wielding a Beretta pistol, Hisoka a Winchester rifle. Growling to himself, Ivan pulled his boss behind a boulder as the two pairs exchanged shots. Rei and Misato meanwhile, made their getaway through another bulkhead as Shinji took the Eva out of the mountain to face Unit-00.

Ivan looked at Gendo. "Apparently I need to overhaul Section-2. Those two bastards are still alive!" He stopped to get up and fire a shot. His bullet ricocheted off the rocks as Hisoka came out and clipped the ex-assassin on the ear with return fire.

Ducking back down, the detective turned to Mana, "This is certainly an interesting way to get to know one another." The perky redhead giggled.

"I have to admit, not many guys I know would be joking at a time like this. You're one piece of work, Antares," she said as she got up and shot off a couple rounds, managing to take off a piece of Gendo's nose. Hearing the bearded bastard's girly squeal, Hisoka laughed.

"You're a good shot, girl. By the way, call me Hisoka."

"Then you can call me Mana." Smiling to each other, the pair made a break for it, keeping their opponents behind the rock with continuous fire. The two made it safely through the bulkhead and shut it, but not before Hisoka whipped out the Mateba and nailed Volsky right in the balls with a round from it.

Mana started laughing uncontrollably as they made their way down the tunnel.

"Brilliant shot Hisoka! That creep's gonna need a couple replacements after that shot."

The raven-haired detective grinned and took a bow. "Thank you, thank you…"

**(On the surface)**

"Been a while since I've seen that ugly face," Shinji commented to himself. He was lucky Rei had informed him of where to go after taking down Unit-00, otherwise he'd have nowhere to run to after the fight. Cocking his pallet rifle, Shinji fired a short burst and ducked behind the mountain as the unmanned Eva made its way towards him.

Shinji heard the other Eva fire off its own burst of fire. The man shook his head and fired again.

This went on for about five minutes, with each Eva exchanging shots before hiding behind some cover.

Eventually, Shinji got sick and tired of it.

"You have _got_ to be kidding…this is too easy," he exclaimed, running out and, bringing the butt of the rifle above him, brought it down on Unit-00's head with a loud _CRACK_. The unit staggered for a moment before falling flat on its face.

Shinji simply stared at his fallen opponent. "This is bullshit! The Angels were more fun than this!"

Not content to leave it at that, the pissed off detective walked up to the prone Unit-00 and kicked it across the mountain. Stalking off, Shinji made his way to the location Rei gave him.

"I hope that damn Eva puts up a better fight than THAT next time…"

**(Somewhere in the tunnel under Mt. Asama)**

"Hisoka?"

"What's up Mana?" The young woman looked around a minute before turning back to her companion.

"I know that Rei and Misato took off through here, but I have a question: Where the hell were we supposed to go?" Hisoka's face went rigid.

"Oh shit…"

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Well that does it for Chapter 2. Hope you guys all enjoyed it. I'm having a lot of fun with this story and I want you guys to give me comments on it. Read and review people!

Next time on Back With a Vengeance, Chapter 3: Hisoka Meets Asuka. After escaping the tunnels under Mt. Asama, Hisoka and Mana wander around the surrounding forest and run into everyone's favorite German fireball. How will Shinji's partner react to this chance meeting? Keep reading to find out.

Hope to see a lot more comments everyone. This is Ama no Murakumo, signing off until next time!


	3. Hisoka Meets Asuka

_Disclaimer: Don't own anything. Leave the lawyers at home, please. I'm running outta places to hide the bodies!_

_Author's Notes_

_1) Howdy everyone! Ama no Murakumo is back in action! Sorry about the lack of updates recently but I'm getting my creative groove back. Let's have some fun!_

_2) Excelsior B: Truthfully, I didn't think of Hellsing until you mentioned it. The .454 Casull is a handgun round generally used for hunting medium to large sized game animals. Against a human…it packs a bit more of a wallop._

_3) animefan29: I understand your disappointment with the Eva fight, but I did it that way on purpose. After all, Unit-00 was being piloted by a DUMMY plug…anyway, the next fight will be much better._

_4) Storyteller of dimensions: There will be a lot more insight to the story's background in this chapter, so don't worry. Also, the relationships between the characters and Shinji's change will be more developed._

_Well now, with all the tedious paperwork out of my way…On with the show!_

* * *

_**Back With A Vengeance**_

_By Ama no Murakumo_

**Chapter 3: Hisoka Meets Asuka**

After wandering through the tunnels under Mt. Asama for a while, Hisoka and Mana eventually made it out and into a nearby forest. The intelligence officer's only information about the Resistance's new HQ was that it was in the ruins of Tokyo-2. So…the pair had a bit of a walk ahead of them.

"Hey Hisoka, why exactly does your partner seem like a trigger-happy, deranged, psychopath?" The detective chuckled and turned to face his current traveling companion.

"You have to understand something Mana. Shinji was one of the Eva pilots during the Angel Wars, and that meant that he was always on the fronts lines against those things. You've heard how many soldiers develop post-traumatic stress syndrome while at war, right?" Mana nodded.

"Well Shinji developed a rather severe case of it. Dealing with those monsters, on top of the domestic problems he had with Ms. Katsuragi and Asuka Sohryu, pretty much drove him halfway to insanity. It was a miracle he hadn't been tossed in a padded cell at an institution."

"Then why wasn't he?" Mana asked.

"Because he discovered an interest in guns and ended up becoming one of the best gunfighters in the country. Shinji's deadly accurate with a firearm and the Nagoya-2 Police Department offered him asylum in exchange for going through the academy. That's where I met him, and we immediately hit it off," Hisoka finished.

The redheaded woman walked in silence. She knew that the pilots had it bad during the Angel Wars, but for one of them to be driven that far? It was crazy! Mana decided then and there that she was happy to not have been intimately involved in those wars. She wasn't sure she would have survived the experience.

Turning back to the plainclothes detective she asked, "What about you, Hisoka? Tell me more about yourself."

"Well first off, I was born in Osaka. My mother's Japanese, but according to her, my father was a Russian musician that she met while studying abroad in Moscow. Before I was even born, my father disappeared. My mother never talked about him, and I was smart enough not to ask. It always seemed a sore subject for her. Anyway, after graduating high school, I enrolled at Nagoya-2 University and got both my bachelor's and master's degrees in statistics," he explained before Mana cut him off.

"Why statistics?"

"I was always good at math, and I guess I was interested in learning how one could quantify risk. But after college I enrolled in the academy, met Shinji, and we graduated together before being put on patrol duty. We both made detective around the same time and begged Chief Kazekawa to partner us up, and he did. I think it had more to do with us constantly bugging the shit out of him about it, though." Mana giggled.

Out of nowhere, the two heard a faint rustling in some bushes nearby. Shutting up, they drew their weapons and crept closer. Before they could react, a red blur shot out of the underbrush and bowled the pair over. Mana and Hisoka tried to scramble to their feet, only to feel cold steel against the back of their heads.

A voice thick with pride asked, "Just who are you two? You better not be with those NERV assholes…"

Hisoka laughed. "Trust me lady, nothing would please us more than to see Gendo Ikari's head on a pike." Hearing a faint chuckle, the guns were slowly pulled from their places. That was all the opening Hisoka needed. Before their attacker knew what happened, the raven-haired man lunged his hands into his coat, thrust out his leg to take the woman off her feet, and pulled both a large black revolver and the Mateba from the coat, pointing the weapons at what he now identified as another young redhead of his own age.

Mana calmly climbed to her feet, drawing her Beretta as she rose. Pointing her own weapon at the now defenseless woman, her guns having clattered into the bushes after her fall, she glared pointedly.

"Mind explaining just why you attacked us? By the way Hisoka, where did you get that black gun? And what is it?"

"It's a Ruger Blackhawk .357 Magnum revolver, one of my personal favorites. This happened to be my mother's gun till she gave it to me. Now then," he said, turning back to the woman on the ground, "answer Mana's questions or I may be tempted to see how many holes I can put in you before I get bored."

"I don't have to explain myself to you fools. I'm the great Asuka Langley Sohryu. You should be bowing before me." Hisoka's eyebrows went straight to his hairline when he heard who he was dealing with and the way she addressed them.

'_Let's see…red hair, an ego the size of the sun, huge rack, and the mental stability of Charles Manson…yep, that's Sohryu alright._'

With an ear-to-ear grin plastered on his face, Hisoka fired a shot from the Blackhawk just to the left of Asuka's head, neatly clipping some hair off.

"You should count your blessings that we found you and not Shinji, Ms. Sohryu."

"SHINJI! Don't tell me that the Prince of Losers is back in Tokyo-3!" Asuka screamed.

"Watch it, girly. If Shinji were to find you, then you would never live through the night."

The former Eva pilot scoffed. "Oh please…that wimp wouldn't have the balls to hit a fly, much less me."

Hisoka laughed heartily at the pompous look Asuka was giving him as she said that. "Oh yeah? Ever since I met Shinji, he always talked to me about his dreams to shove a grenade launcher straight up your ass before pulling the trigger, among other things."

The redhead on the ground cocked her eye at the raven haired man, not sure whether to believe him or not. After all, 10 years was a long time. And time had a way of changing people…

"Get up. We're heading for Tokyo-2 to try and meet up with the rest of our allies."

"Then go on your own. If I ever see Wondergirl or Shinji again, I'll kill them." Hisoka chuckled.

"Shinji would kill you first. And just for the record, I'd help him…" With that, Hisoka and Mana walked away, leaving an infuriated Asuka. The redhead growled and walked down another trail.

'_So the Invincible Shinji's back, huh? Finally, a chance to show that bastard just who's number one…_' And so Asuka Sohryu planned her revenge against Shinji Ikari for all the times she felt he humiliated her.

**(Tokyo-2: New Resistance HQ)**

Shinji groaned. He had finally made it to Tokyo-2 after wandering around for almost an hour. It was by pure luck that he had managed to find the new Headquarters, located directly in the center of the former capital. Bringing Unit-01 into the cover of the ruined buildings, the ex-pilot ejected from the entry plug and made his way into one of the deserted buildings that served as the new offices for the Resistance higher-ups.

Walking into Rei's new office on the third floor, Shinji slumped himself into one of the chairs in front of the large oak desk. Rei was content to just smile at her old co-worker, who looked positively bored and tired after his run-in with Unit-00.

The cyan haired beauty stood up and walked over to Shinji, planting herself in the seat next to him. "Shinji," she said, causing the man in question looked up at her before she continued, "when I wrote to you saying that I may have feelings for you, I wasn't just saying it to try and bring you back. I really mean it and would like to get to know you better and possibly begin a relationship with you in the future."

Shinji smiled. Not one of his maniacal, I'm-gonna-blow-you-to-hell-cause-I-feel-like-it grins. This was an honest to God smile of happiness.

"Rei, I have to confess. When I found out about your origins, I was afraid. Come on, I had been trained to fight Angels, and finding out that you were part Angel kinda threw me for a loop. After I left Tokyo-3, though, I started thinking about it more. I eventually decided that even though you weren't completely human, I didn't really care. My fear was completely unfounded. After all, if you were truly an Angel, then wouldn't you have tried to help them instead of destroying them?" The young woman nodded.

Shinji continued, "Well Rei, I would be happy to get to know you better. I have to warn you, though, I'm considered borderline insane by a lot of people."

The Resistance leader shook her head and replied, "That doesn't matter to me. You are still the same Shinji Ikari that I remember from before, though you _are_ a lot more confident." This elicited a roar of laughter from Shinji.

"Rei believe me, I'm anything but the same guy I was before. For one thing, the moment I find Asuka I'm gonna blow her brains out the back of her skull." The violent statement didn't really seem to faze Rei, who was still calmly staring at the young man.

The two stood up and made their way to the door. Before Shinji could open it though, Rei turned him around and pulled his face to her level, capturing his lips in a deep kiss. She pulled back and saw that Shinji, a shit-eating grin on his face, only had one thing to say:

"I could get used to that." Rei pulled him down for another kiss.

**(NERV HQ)**

Gendo Ikari was NOT a happy man right now. His estranged son seemed to have finally grown a set of iron balls and returned to Tokyo-3 to oppose him. On top of that, he had brought somebody else with him who apparently could give Ivan a run for his money as a gunfighter. No, Gendo wasn't feeling any love today.

"I want every scrap of information you can find on this Hisoka Antares. If we can't shoot the bastard down, then we'll break him…" he ordered. Section-2 immediately took off to dig up the info their boss desired.

Sub-Commander Volsky didn't say anything. He was too entrenched in his own thoughts to worry about what Gendo was up to.

'_That boy's eyes. I haven't seen eyes like that since…_'

**(A couple days later: Tokyo-2)**

"We made it!"

"Finally! It's a good thing too, cause we were starting to run out of supplies." Hisoka and Mana ran towards the dilapidated city at a bum's rush, eager to see their friends. The Resistance had erected a wall around key areas of the city, in case of another attack by NERV. It was at one of these gates that Maya Ibuki was getting a report from the guards on duty. Upon seeing the two formerly missing operatives, she was ecstatic.

"Mana! Antares! Thank God you're both alright. Come on and we'll take you to HQ. Shinji and the others have been worried sick about you" she exclaimed. However, Murphy's Law dictates that something should now happen to royally fuck everything up…

As soon as the pair reached the gate, a swarm of Section-2 agents came barreling out of the forest behind them. They had been followed and ambushed. Turning around, Hisoka cursed.

"Son of a bitch! Where the fuck does Ikari get these guys from!? Is there some kinda service I'm not aware of?" The older man's ranting brought Resistance fighters from all over the nearby area, including Shinji and Rei. They had received word that the two had arrived and were coming to meet them. (A/N: Word travels fast, don't it?)

Drawing the Blackhawk, the elder detective fired a few rounds into the enemy before ducking behind cover with Mana, who had also run out of bullets.

Shinji was charging head-first at the goons, wielding his gatling gun with unbelievable agility as he mowed down as many agents as possible, all the while screaming like a lunatic. Mana had restocked her ammo supply and jumped back into the fray, covering Rei from behind as the Resistance Commander and Misato directed their soldiers.

Hisoka ran back out shortly afterwards and, tapping Shinji on the shoulder, handed the younger man a pair of Uzi's. Shinji blanched. "Where the fuck did you get these?!"

"Consider them an early birthday present," was his partner's reply as he drew two more guns: a Desert Eagle XIX .44 Magnum in his right hand, and a Smith & Wesson 617 in the left. By now, the sheer numbers of Section-2 had allowed them to completely surround the Resistance.

The two partners glanced at each other, nodded, and with their backs to each other, brought their weapons up. Mana saw what they were planning and dragged as many of her friends to the ground as she could, leaving the rest to dive on their own. Misato wasn't too happy with that.

"Mana! What the hell are you-" was all she could say before all hell broke loose. The two detectives began shooting at anything and everything that was standing. Shinji was having a blast, his eyes gleaming as Section-2 kept charging only to be brought down in a shower of crimson blood as quick as they came. The pair had gotten so quick at reloading weapons that it looked as if they were firing continuously, much to their friends' astonishment.

Screaming, the black-suited men kept charging for over ten minutes. Blood flowed like a river and flew everywhere as anybody unfortunate enough to get in the way of the two-man massacre was blown to pieces. Shinji had even fired a short burst at one agent's neck, ripping his head completely off.

The others watched amazed as Shinji and Hisoka finally began driving Section-2 back. The fools had finally figured out that they couldn't get within 7 feet of either of the two without being turned into Swiss cheese. Thus, they followed the unwritten Section-2 rule: If at first you don't succeed, run like a bastard in the other direction.

Not content to just let their opponents escape, the pair lunged after them. Mana was laughing her ass off at seeing the remaining 300 Section-2 agents running for their lives from two men.

Suddenly, a deafening roar erupted from the forest, stopping everyone in their tracks. The agents, now scared of whatever was coming at themfrom _that_ direction, tried to turn around again. They didn't get very far, as a massive red foot came crashing down on top of them. The former members of NERV stared wide-eyed as the demonic visage of Unit-02 rose from underneath the trees: Asuka had finally returned. Shinji got over his initial shock quickly as his lips curled into a vicious smile, his feet quickly carrying him towards Unit-01.

"Payback's a bitch, ain't it?"

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There's Chapter 3, everyone. Sorry for the cliffhanger, but I didn't wanna super-saturate this chapter with action like I did the last one. Don't worry though you violence lovers: the next installment will be plenty bloody. Also, Mana's past will be revealed a bit more in the coming chapters.

Next time on Back With A Vengeance, Chapter 4: Shinji vs. Asuka: Eva Fight! Now that Asuka's taken out the remaining Section-2 ambushers, Shinji activates Unit-01 and engages her to get himself some long awaited revenge. Can Asuka survive an encounter with the new Shinji? Or will the younger Ikari's near-madness be too much for the redhead to overcome? Find out next time!

Keep those reviews coming people! I love comments, good or bad. Hope you enjoy the story. This is Ama no Murakumo, signing off!


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